er beasts of the forest, and in less than half an
hour a great crashing of branches was heard, and bears, wolves, snakes,
mice, frogs, and other creatures came pressing up to the cave.

When they heard why they had been summoned, they declared themselves
ready each one to do his part. The bear took his crossbow from his neck
and shot the reindeer in the chin; and, from that day to this, every
reindeer has a mark in that same spot, which is always known as the
bear's arrow. The wolf shot him in the thigh, and the sign of his arrow
still remains; and so with the mouse and the viper and all the rest,
even the frog; and at the last the reindeer all died. And the fox did
nothing, but looked on.

'I really must go down to the brook and wash myself,' said he (though he
was perfectly clean), and he went under the bank and hid himself behind
a stone. From there he set up the most frightful shrieks, so that the
animals fled away in all directions. Only the mouse and the ermine
remained where they were, for they thought that they were much too small
to be noticed.

The fox continued his shrieks till he felt sure that the animals must
have got to a safe distance; then he crawled out of his hiding-place and
went to the bodies of the reindeer, which he now had all to himself. He
gathered a bundle of sticks for a fire, and was just preparing to cook
a steak, when his enemy, the Lapp, came up, panting with haste and
excitement.

'What are you doing there?' cried he; 'why did you palm off those bones
on me? And why, when you had got the reindeer, did you kill them?'

'Dear brother,' answered the fox with a sob, 'do not blame me for
this misfortune. It is my comrades who have slain them in spite of my
prayers.'

The man made no reply, for the white fur of the ermine, who was
crouching with the mouse behind some stones, had just caught his eye.
He hastily seized the iron hook which hung over the fire and flung it at
the little creature; but the ermine was too quick for him, and the hook
only touched the top of its tail, and that has remained black to this
day. As for the mouse, the Lapp threw a half-burnt stick after him,
and though it was not enough to hurt him, his beautiful white skin was
smeared all over with it, and all the washing in the world would not
make him clean again. And the man would have been wiser if he had let
the ermine and the mouse alone, for when he turned round again he found
he was alone.

Directly the fox